`Secret meetings' between Pawars is matter of concern: Maharashtra Congress

Mumbai: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Tuesday said it was a matter of concern for his party that NCP chief Sharad Pawar and state deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar were meeting “secretly”.

Sharad Pawar is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP, while his nephew Ajit Pawar split the Nationalist Congress Party last month to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP government.

Asked by reporters about Pawar senior meeting Ajit in Pune on Saturday, Patole said, “It is a matter of concern for us and we do not approve of the meetings taking place between the Pawars secretly. However, this matter will be discussed by the top leaders of the Congress. The INDIA alliance will also discuss it, so it would not be appropriate for me to discuss it further.”

“The Congress has decided to join hands with everyone who is willing to oppose the BJP. There is no grain of truth in the speculation that Congress is thinking of contesting Lok Sabha elections without taking Sharad Pawar along,” he stated.

Meanwhile, speaking in his hometown Baramati, Sharad Pawar said some people in the party took a different path, but ”once they realize the situation, their stand may change.”

”Whether they change their stand or not, we will not deviate from the path we have chosen,” he told the gathering.

“I have told Maharashtra (voters) to vote for someone. And now, I can not tell them to vote for someone whom we have opposed all along,” Pawar senior added.

He will be holding a public rally in Beed on Thursday, he announced.